Research Finds Most American Muslims Feel Targeted In Post 9/11 America

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American-Muslim feel as if they’re under attack.


 

There’s research to back up that claim. Dr. Maha Hilal, an expert on human rights and counter-terrorism, presented her dissertation research titled “Too Damn Muslim to be Trusted: War on Terror and the Muslim-American Response” at the Washington Peace Center on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at the Washington DC Peace Center.


Hilal found that 63 percent of Muslim-Americans believe they are targets of War on Terror policies. According to one of the study’s participants, the U.S. government's need to continually reiterate that its not targeting Muslims is itself problematic.


“It’s unfortunate that the media and the President have to keep reiterating [that they] are not anti-Muslim and [that] the war is not against Islam,” said one participant who requested anonymity. “Why do they have to say that?  Then they’re obviously doing something wrong if they have to make that distinction.”


Since the start of the "war on terror", Hilal found that there has been an increase of 50% in political participation from the Muslim-American community. A participant in the study told Hilal that he believes Muslim-Americans eventually understood the need for them to exercise their first amendment rights only after the start of the "war on terror."


Hilal’s research received a positive response from those in attendance at the Washington Peace Center in Washington, D.C. Attendee Alex Dixon asked Hilal if there was anything allies of the Muslim-American community can do to bring awareness to the negative consequences of War on Terror policies. Amani Al-Khatatbeh, Editor-in-Chief of MuslimGirl.net, believes that counterterrorism efforts are dehumanizing the Muslim-American community. “Muslim Americans are the exception. It’s not unconstitutional, because it deals with an ‘Islamic threat.’ It’s not racist, because there is a War on Terror,” said Khatatbeh. “The level of complacency in our society is only possible by completely dehumanizing Muslims. U.S. policies since 9/11 are a proclamation that we are not people deserving of the same human and civil rights as everyone else.”


The question and answer session soon because a discussion centered on the recent Charlie Hebdo massacre. A female audience member from the United Kingdom, who chose to be unnamed, stated that she finds a great divide among the Muslim community when it comes to issues related to free speech. “I have been to all the marches for Palestine and spoke out against policies that affect the Muslim community, but what I have noticed, at least from the Muslim community in the U.K., is that there is a free speech issue,” she said. “I feel as if you can’t choose both. I feel like if you say what happened in Paris is a free speech issue then you are outcasted from the [Muslim] community.”


Hilal responded that it’s important to take note of the other factors that led up the events at Charlie Hebdo, including the fact that Muslims in France are one of the most marginalized communities in the country. Like Muslims in France, the Muslim-American community feels as if their cultural citizenship has been diminished since the start of the Post-9/11 world, added Hilal. They feel as if the unspoken message from society is that Muslims aren’t welcome in the United States.

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